Feature News

ATLANTA, Feb. 10 /PRNewswire/ -- Metro City Redevelopment Coalition, Inc. (MCRC) and AAmagin Property Group, LLC of Baton Rouge, La. are pleased to announce the grand opening of Melrose PepperMill Apartments II, which will be officially introduced with an open house from 1 to 4 p.m. and ceremony at 2 p.m. on Friday, Feb. 13, 2009 in Baton Rouge.

Melrose PepperMill Apartments II, which is located at 6747 Renoir Ave., is a 29-unit affordable housing project in the East Melrose community of Baton Rouge. The Gustav, Ike, Katrina and Rita hurricane disasters in recent years have resulted in an urgent demand for housing and doubled the population of Baton Rouge. Melrose PepperMill will help meet this affordable housing need with 100 percent of its units set aside for individuals and families with 50 percent or less of area median income (AMI). Melrose PepperMill will also provide recovery support services to residents of the development.

MCRC partnered with the Louisiana Housing Finance Agency, Regions Bank, AAmagin Property Group, and the Federal Home Loan Bank of Atlanta (FHLBank Atlanta) to create Melrose PepperMill. The Louisiana Housing Finance Agency provided tax credits purchased by the investor, Regions Bank, that were used as equity in the development. AAmagin Property Group is the developer and fiscal general partner, and FHLBank Atlanta provided a $250,000 affordable housing program (AHP) subsidy to the project. The project is the first new construction in the East Melrose community of Baton Rouge in more than 25 years.

MCRC renovates and develops communities designated in low to moderate income areas in the Baton Rouge vicinity. MCRC's objective is to develop various initiatives that focus on providing affordable housing to targeted groups, including low- and moderate-income citizens, the disabled, elderly, socially-rehabilitated and the homeless. MCRC has renovated many single family housing units for low income residents in the area and provides credit counseling and assistance in establishing credit.

About FHLBank Atlanta

FHLBank Atlanta offers competitively-priced financing, community development grants, and other banking services to help more than 1,200 member financial institutions make affordable home mortgages and provide economic development credit to neighborhoods and communities. The Bank's members-its shareholders and customers-are commercial banks, credit unions, savings institutions, thrift and loans, and insurance companies headquartered in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Maryland, North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia, and the District of Columbia. FHLBank Atlanta is one of 12 district banks in the Federal Home Loan Bank System which since 1990 has contributed more than $3 billion to the Affordable Housing Program.